The
first episode in the series, The Not-So-Golden Calf, is based on
commandments 1 & 2 - "Do not worship any other gods besides me" and "Do not
make idols of any kind." While Moses is up on Mount Sinai, the people of
Israel lose faith and are convinced by Hazzaka, the leader of the
evil-doers, to build and worship a "golden calf." Hazzaka selects Seth's
calf, Jacob, as the "model" for the idol. In the midst of their new
popularity, Seth and Jacob get big heads and turn their backs on God.
Thankfully, before things get out of hand, Moses returns with the Ten
Commandments to reinforce that there is only one living God, and worshiping
someone or something above God is a huge mistake. For ages 6 and up with an
approximate running time of 30 minutes.

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The Golden Calf

To Remember:
We must never give up on God

Vocabulary

Idol: anything we worship or treat as more
important than God

Worship: to serve, to treat as special, to
give honor to

Patience: waiting without complaining or
giving up hope

Lesson Exodus 20:22-25, Exodus 32-34

After making their covenant (promises), Moses taught the
people what God wanted. This included instructions on worshipping God.

God said the Israelites were to create and altar of
stones not shaped or decorated by men. They were only to use stone. They
were not even supposed to smooth the stone. They were not to create
anything that looked like men or animals or plants.

The Israelites worshipped God His way, renewing their
promise with sacrifices.

God called Moses back up to the mountain to give him the law
in physical form. Moses was gone 40 days and 40 nights. That's almost six
weeks. (Mention what day it will be 40 days from now).

The Israelites got worried about Moses. They decided
they did not think he was coming back. They were afraid they would have
no leader.

Discussion point / Activity: spread out on
the table 40 small items or pieces of paper. Explain that each item
is a day. Pick up the pieces one at a time while you talk. Discuss
how the Israelites had waited 400 years to be freed from Egypt.
Sarah waited 100 years for her first son. Joseph was an old man
before he was reunited with his family. God always keeps His
promises, but He does it on His own time. We must not get tired of
waiting for God to work. We can hope in the fact that He always
keeps His promises, and will never abandon us.

Rather than use what they knew about God to give them
hope, the Israelites thought about what the Egyptians would do. The
Egyptians had hundreds of statues of creatures that they worshipped like
gods. So the people asked Aaron to make them a "god".

Discussion point / Craft: Can people MAKE
gods? If you make something, will it live? Will it be more powerful
than you? make golden calves from modeling clay. Discuss how silly
it is for us to worship something we made with our own hands.

Aaron crafted a golden calf, which the Israelites then
claimed had delivered them from Egypt. Had this calf even been around then?
No. Were they obeying God's law at this point? No.

Worse then this, once they made the idol, the Israelites
began imitating the way the Egyptians worshipped, with parties, and
drinking and feasting. Was this how God wanted to be worshipped? No.
They were behaving as they wanted, copying other nations. They had
forgotten what they had promised God they would obey in just six weeks.

Did God know what was going on? Yes. God told Moses the
people were sinning. He wanted to destroy them and start all over with just
Moses. But Moses didn't want God's reputation among the nations to suffer.
He pleaded with God to forgive the people. And God changed His mind.

When Moses went down to the people, with the law on two
tablets of stone, he heard the singing and saw the carved calf they were
honoring. He was so angry he broke the tablets.

He approached Aaron about what happened. Aaron claimed
the calf appeared by itself when they threw gold in the fire. Is that
possible? No. Aaron was trying to escape responsibility for what he had
done.

Moses demanded that the people choose between God and
the idol. The people who stood against God were killed. The idol was
crushed into powder (have students destroy their clay "idols") and Moses
made the people drink it. Gold is pretty to look at, but is very bitter
to drink.

God told Moses to cut two stone tablets like the first and
to bring them back to the mountain. Moses spent another forty days and forty
nights, and did not eat or drink the whole time. God put Moses in charge of
administering the law.

1. The people knew how God
wanted them to worship Him.
T
2. The people had promised they would obey God.
T
3. Moses was gone for over a year.
F
4. The golden calf appeared by itself from the fire.
F
5. Breaking promises to God bring bitter results.
T